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Red Sox trade rumors: Red Sox in on Luke Gregerson

Even after acquiring Jake Peavy, the Red Sox could look to improve their pitching staff further, with reliever Luke Gregerson a possible target.

By Ben Buchanan
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Red Sox are one of the teams interested in Padres right-handed reliever Luke Gregerson, according to Nick Cafardo.

Moving past the, uh, terminology...

Gregerson, 29, has thrown 43 innings of 2.91 ERA ball for the Padres this year. While any pitcher coming from Petco has to invite questions--and Gregerson's road splits are indeed notably higher, with a 3.48 road ERA and .722 OPS against--there's a lot to like about what Gregerson could bring to Fenway.

While his strikeout rate has ticked downwards every year, it remains at a very reasonable 8.10 K/9, and is more than made up for by a walk rate that has plummeted down to just 1.87 per nine innings. Add in a ground ball rate that hovers just under 50% which, if not exceptional, is certainly at the point where a move from Petco to Fenway is unlikely to cause too much trouble.

The question, as with all trades, is at what price? And while the Padres aren't really contenders even in a weak NL West, they don't face losing Gregerson to free agency come the offseason, which means they won't exactly be desperate to sell.

Frankly, Gregerson is the type of reliever where it's justifiable to give up, if certainly not a top tier prospect (or for a system like Boston's even a second tier prospect), at least a decent name. Possibly someone in the range of a Deven Marrero, though it's tough to say what the Padres will be expecting given the oft-inflated prices to be found in the trade market for relievers.

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